How do you convince someone that God does exist?

Question

i know i just believe but when it comes to back it up i'm pretty much clueless...Thanks

Answer 1

> WHAT A GREAT ANALOGY OF GOD FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW
>
> BY ROBIN WILLIAMS
>
> This is one of the best explanations
> of why God allows pain and suffering
> that I have seen. It's an explanation
> other people will understand.
>
> A man went to a barbershop to have
> his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
> As the barber began to work,
> They talked about so many things
> and various subjects.
>
> When they eventually touched on
> the subject of God, the barber said:
> 'I don't believe that God exists.'
>
> 'Why do you say that?'
> asked the customer.
> 'Well, you just have to go out in
> the street to realize that God
> doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists,
> would there be so many sick people?
> Would there be abandoned children?
> If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain.
> I can't imagine loving a God who
> would allow all of these things.'
>
> The customer thought for a moment,
> but didn't respond because he didn't
> want to start an argument.
> The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
> Just after he left the barbershop,
> he saw a man in the street with long,
> stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed
> beard.
> He looked dirty and un-kept.
>
> The customer turned back and entered
> the barber shop again and he said
> to the barber:
> 'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'
>
> 'How can you say that?'
> asked the surprised barber.
> 'I am here, and I am a barber.
> And I just worked on you!'
>
> 'No!' the customer exclaimed.
> 'Barbers don't exist because
> if they did, there would be no
> people with dirty long hair
> and untrimmed beards,
> like that man outside.'
>
> 'Ah, but barbers DO exist!
> What happens is, people
> do not come to me.'
>
> 'Exactly!'-
> affirmed the customer.
> 'That's the point!
> God, too, DOES exist!
> What happens, is, people
> don't go to Him
> and do not look for Him.
> That's why there's so much pain
> and suffering in the world.'

Answer 2

>How do you convince someone that God does exist?

Personally, I don't, because I'm an atheist.

That said, usually the methods employed by religious people involve appealing to a person's emotions, telling them what they want to hear. It just FEELS so good to ignore the facts and believe that you're going to Heaven or that there exists a giant omnipotent being who loves you. And unfortunately, many people don't have the insight to realize that what they feel isn't an accurate guide on how things really are. If you want to convert someone to your faith, this is probably the best method to use, because if you try to stick to logic you'll find that the person you're talking to will be more likely to become an atheist than anything else.

>i know i just believe but when it comes to back it up i'm pretty much clueless...

You know what? Similar cases have happened through history. There was a time when people just believed that the Earth was flat, but when it came around to backing it up, they lost out to people who had verified that the Earth was round. There was a time when people believed that space was full of something called the ether, but then when they actually tested for it (the Michelson-Morley experiment), they found they couldn't back it up against the theory of special relativity.

Getting the idea yet? The Universe doesn't care what we would like to believe. The Universe is a certain way, and believing it is any other way does not lead us anywhere. That's what science and logic are all about: When you find you are incapable of backing up your beliefs, change them! Holding onto beliefs that the real world doesn't support will not do you any good. Why? Because when it comes around to making things better for ourselves and for other sentient beings, it is much easier to change the Universe for the better if we are willing to understand how it works first. Faith has no mechanism for self-correction, and so it is just as likely to lead you down an intellectual dead end as it is to show you the truth.

Answer 3

I'm assuming your asking for logical arguments - something that you can step through that backs up your belief in God, rather than a personal anecdote or a faith-based response.

There are many arguments for the existence of God. Most, if not all, argue for *some kind* of God, but not specifically the Judeo-Christian God. That is the first big hurdle, of course.

Peter Kreeft has written the book on it - literally - and does an excellent job laying out some of the best arguments. Twenty are outlined here: http://peterkreeft.com/topics-more/20_arguments-gods-existence.htm
He also has an audio recording - a lecture - on the same subject here: http://peterkreeft.com/audio/18_god-existence.htm

My personal favorite - one the impacts me deeply whenever I hear or share it - is the argument from desire. Simply put:

People have always had certain natural desires. All people, at all times, have felt them to some degree. Every natural desire we have matches with a satisfier for that desire. (We hunger; food exists. We thirst; water exists. We feel sexual desire; there are two genders. And so on.) If there is a natural desire, there must be the satisfaction of that desire somewhere. This leads to the question: have you ever desired something more than this world can provide? Have you ever felt, deep down, that you are missing something that you need to have? If you have and if this world can't provide it, then the satisfaction for that desire must wait in another world.

That's just my favorite. There are stronger arguments, I think - those that rely less on the response the other person has to deep, philosophical questions. :)

All the best!

Answer 4

You can't make someone believe. You have faith. That's why you believe. You don't see God, you know God. You feel, somewhere inside you that there is a God and that God is real. For someone like me, no argument would convince me that there is a God. For instance, why just one God? For thousands of years, there were very evolved societies that knew, had faith if you will, that there were multiple Gods, some more powerful than others, but all with special powers and having special needs. Those people had faith in their God, the one that was special to them. Would you consider them wrong because they probably had no concept of the God you know and have faith really exists?

Answer 5

One doesn't. One cannot convince anyone that anything at all exists or does not exist unless that person already agrees. The only thing that is amenable to logic is demonstrating the possibility of insufficiently complete evidence of something existing or not existing. But the actual decision to accept or reject existence of anything is not a rational decision. Indeed, the emotional flare-up that comes whenever one points out that the decision is not rational, even to an atheist, is excellent evidence that it is not a rational decision.

Questioning is rational. Uncertainty is rational. Certainty of existence or non-existence ultimately is never rational, for it requires that one set aside incompleteness of information as a criterion for not deciding.

Answer 6

As you are born and raised but you do not know who is your real father you only believe without any proof of life creation.same way you can not see fire on the other side of your street but by seeing the sky you realize that some where fire is there so these all signs are convincing you the same GOD is running these all elements without any hindrance ,it is GOD power and you have to accept that there is some driving force behind all this world System

Answer 7

You dont. Did someone convince you that God exists? If so, becarefull of the next person who comes along and convinces you He doesnt. I "believe" because God showed me that He exists.
Perhaps you misphrased the question. People don't need to be "convinced" of God. They need to be overwhelmed by Him

Answer 8

Believing in gods is just that - a belief. It requires faith. You cannot force anyone to believe nor can you prove the existence of something you have to believe in. Why do you believe? Why not read more and either strengthen your faith or lose it? Sam Harris's book "Letter to a Christian Nation" would be a good place to start.

Answer 9

You could try Pascal's Wager. That's popular among people who have never studied logic.

Or say something along the lines of, "Well, something had to start it all. And that's my god, not those other people's gods."

Or, "God loves you. Now you need to love him." Guilt trips are pretty effective on people who've never studied logic either.

Better yet, the Watchmaker argument. It's tired and completely worthless, but some people still use it.

And as a last resort, there's always Aquinas' Five Ways. Which don't really prove anything, since they are based on suppositions.

Answer 10

I don't believe the existence of God can be proven by any degree. It is simply a matter of faith. Just like the athiest that can neither prove the non-existence of God.

I think some of us are born with faith whilst others aren't - it's as simple as that.